Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations

Photojournalist Andrew Renneisen switched careers to become an EMT in New York just before the pandemic. He's been documenting what life is like for him and his colleagues. Meanwhile, dentists face widespread layoffs, New Hampshire takes steps to create its own supply chain for personal protective gear, workers humanize themselves for patients with pictures taped to their protective suits and more.

The New York Times:
Three Weeks In April: An E.M.T. Crew Faces Exhaustion, Isolation And Death
After three years living in Nairobi, Kenya, working as a photojournalist throughout Africa and the Middle East, I decided I wanted to move home and pursue a career in public safety. I had always been interested in emergency medicine and was an emergency medical technician in college, so I got recertified and was hired by Empress Emergency Medical Service in a suburb of New York City last September. I remember reading briefly about the coronavirus earlier this year but not thinking much of it — until the second documented case in New York State was announced in early March, in Empress’s coverage area, New Rochelle. (Renneisen, 5/11)

Roll Call:
Dental Offices Hit Hardest In Health Care Industry Layoffs
After social distancing restrictions to slow the spread of COVID-19 took effect in March, Noelle Dunn had to lay off all nine employees at her downtown Washington, D.C., dental office, including herself. While the practice has been essentially closed for weeks, seeing patients only in emergencies, Dunn said her overhead costs climbed as she spent more on protective equipment and updating her office to make it safer for patients and her employees. When the practice reopens, she expects to be able to treat fewer patients — which means less revenue — because of social distancing. (McIntire and Macagnone, 5/11)

The Hill:
How New Hampshire Built A Mammoth PPE Supply Chain From China
State governments are scrambling to track down and acquire personal protective equipment (PPE) and essential medical gear to fight the coronavirus pandemic, as President Trump encourages governors to hit the open market to procure supplies. But while larger states like New York and California can compete with ever-rising prices and a limited global supply chain, smaller states have faced major complications, even losing orders to federal agencies that outbid them at the last minute... Some of those state leaders are turning to wealthy businessmen, philanthropists and sometimes their own family members to help secure the equipment they need to fully stock their hospitals and medical facilities. For New Hampshire, that philanthropist was Dean Kamen, an entrepreneur who invented the Segway and who runs a global robotics competition. (Wilson, 5/11)

KQED:
From Ebola To Coronavirus — A Simple Practice Of Sticker-Photo Portraits For Health Care Workers
The scene has become a familiar one at COVID-19 testing centers: health care workers clad in head-to-toe personal protective equipment with eyes peeking out behind an N95 mask and goggles. Expressions and smiles are hidden behind a protective layer. The image becomes even more stark when thinking of those alone, in isolation. “The stories of people dying alone with no one in their room except an occasional masked health care worker struck the psyche of the country,” said L.A.-based artist Mary Beth Heffernan. “That has been the turning point in the U.S. for realizing that there's a need to make a human connection.” (Sarah, 5/8)

Kaiser Health News/The Guardian:
Lost On The Frontline
A pharmacist who refused to let the patients down. A police officer turned nurse. A school nurse who “was a mother to many.” These are some of the people just added to “Lost on the Frontline,” a special series from The Guardian and KHN that profiles health care workers who die of COVID-19. (5/12)

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